As we fly north away from the drive-in and his family, I glance over to him and ahem, <Just so you know, I would never intentionally hurt another raven, I'm not even Sure what happened there..." It still spooked me the way I caught him out of the air like that.
Shiners nods his head, <Don't worry, it would disturb me a little if you did, I would hardly blame you. Most eagles would have at best left the raven injured, you held back, and I'm glad for that, even if he was a bit of an idiot.>
I give a small birdish smile at that, <Thanks, I'm not sure which of us is more surprised by the grab me, you or the raven.> I give a small internal shiver at that as we continue south and I glance around, keeping an eye on the naval base that should be near the camp, and pretty easy to see from this direction.
Shortly, I see the naval base ahead and then the camp and grin, <Ohhh were almost there. I definitely want to check it out, maybe show you what's good about Minigolf.> I say excitedly. Though I'm not a complete idiot, I do wonder HOW it will work as birds.
Shiners shakes his head, <Seems stupid to me, dirtying up a perfectly awesome shiny to roll it around in the dirt? Sometimes I wonder if humans are really smarter than the average raven.> He says. We're definitely smarter... most of the time.
I just shrug, <It's like TV, you might not understand it, but it's quite fun. Though least this one, while we may have a harder time, I think we can still enjoy...possibly.> It was about that point that I spot up ahead the camp and give out a skree, <Here we are.>
Soon I glide over the beach, there didn't seem to be anyone there, just some decorations outside of the main building, as it looked like they were getting ready for Christmas. And sure enough, there was the Minigolf course.
I do a quick fly over the area to be sure no dangers near the golf course, as I land in a tree, < Okay, now we just have to find a ball...or as you call them, shiny, usually one on the ground in the bushes or grass.> Okay, any danger...Nope, I don't see anything remotely resembling danger.
Shiners, on the other hand, being a raven, immediately spotted a small glowing green ball over in the shadow of a tree, <Ohh, I found one over here.> he says, hopping up and down excitedly, pointing to it.
I spot it and nod my head as I drop down and grab the ball in my beak and walk over to the first hole and drop it on the part of the artificial grass that has a hole in it for the ball, <Okay lets see how well we can do.> I think.
I look down the path, towards the hole, which admittedly is a bit hard to do so close to the ground, <Okay, the goal here is to hit the ball into the hole over there, in as few attempts as needed.>
Shiners nods as he looks over at the hole as I move behind the ball, lift my foot up at an awkward angle, and then try to kick the ball like I grabbed that raven and it starts to fly down the path at a surprisingly fast speed, almost flying off the track.
Shiners nods his head, <Ohh, I see, your supposed to make it fly out of the area, you were so close.> he says as he picks up the ball and drops it into the spot and then kicks also, this time it goes down the track a little ways. I groan, shaking my head. He's got the spirit, but not the idea.
I shake my head at this, walking down to the end of the path and standing over the hole, <This is where you're trying to go, you kick the ball down to here.> I say as I stand behind my ball and try to gently kick it. And yes, it went exactly as I planned...all the way back to the start as I hit it too hard again.
Shiners looks at the hole and my ball, <You sure about that? Doesn't look like you're aiming for the hole.> He says as I wince, shaking my head, just how hard do I kick?
Staring at the ball, I frown, <Well, these legs don't work quite the way human ones do, plus you're supposed to use sticks...maybe we should find those?> I ask curiously.
I doubted that a club would be usable by us, but maybe a long stick, I think, trying to spot one before Shiners speaks up, <You mean like this?> He asks, holding up a long stick almost as tall as him in his beak.
I nod my head and give out a light skree, <Yeah, though maybe a little long, try swinging that to hit the ball, see if you can hit it at the hole.> I say.
Shiners gives a small nod while looking at the ball and then swinging the stick and almost falls over as his balance is off, and he grunts, <Ouch.> he says, just staring at the ball, this was so much easier as a human.
Something out of the corner of my eye gets my attention as I look over in the direction of one of the buildings and spot a human with a broom just staring at us with a complete look of disbelief.
I just shake my head laughing, <I think someone saw your incredible swing there.> I say to Shiners as he looks towards the person with a mortified look on his beak.
<Oh great....now someone sees how bad I am at golf.> He says as I just nudge him with my head, trying to cheer him up, as I gently take the stick and move to the ball.
I chuckle, <Hey, we're learning, maybe back home we can get my dad to make us some place to practice when I'm an eagle.> I think as I look at the ball and carefully line up the stick, hitting it and sending it down the path towards the hole...and right past it.
Shiners flaps his wings a few times excitedly, <Well, that definitely looked a little better. And it's an idea, I wonder what that human is thinking, probably that they were in some great fight, thinking the ball is our egg or something.> He jokes as he takes the stick from me.
Smiling, I think, <Try again, but this time don't swing so much, just focus on hitting the ball, once you get that done, you can worry about finesse.> I say to him.
He nods his head, hitting the stick against the ground a few times accidentally before he walks up to the ball and stares at it, and with great effort swings the stick so it hits the ball, and this time it worked, and....went straight into the hole. I can't help but groan. Great beginner's luck. He hops up and down excitedly, <I did it, I did it, so I win?> he asks.
I chuckle at this, <Not quite, there are a few other holes we have to get into, but I think we should move on before the caretaker or owner comes over to investigate, plus I want to check out the rest of this place.> I think to him as I look around, so many old memories, even if it's changed a little bit.
Shiners groans slightly but laughs, <Hmmm...doing it more might be a bit much, but I can see why it might be fun, I wouldn't mind trying more once we're back home after Christmas. > He says.
Nodding, I take to the air and fly away from the area and head over towards where all the cabins are, as I kinda wanted to take a look inside, the caretaker would let us in, even if we ask himed nicely.
Shiners follows me, chuckling, <So you stayed here at this camp? I wonder if we ever saw each other before we met in your town, just a young boy and some raven passing without realizing it.>
I chuckle at this, <Maybe, it would be cool, though I doubt I was all that interesting to look at, didn't exactly hit puberty and grow all those weird feathers everyone told me I would get> I joke, it's still strange, but I'm glad in a way it happened.
<Hmmm, well, you did come out looking gangly and ugly after puberty.> He teases as we fly over the cabins, and I fly down to land upon a windowsill, looking into one of the cabins, seeing the bunks.
I nudge at the window, wondering if it will open, but of course it doesn't, <The bunks were not the most comfortable, but a chance to be away from home for a week and have fun was worth it.> I look around at the other cabins and windows, seeing if any of them were open, but it doesn't look like it. Dangit, though, how would I get out, even if I got in? Would I be too big to easily?
Disappointed, I look away from the windows and chuckle, <Maybe we should start a bird camp!!! Maybe there are others like us out there that are birds, and we can teach everyone to play minigolf.> I think.
Shiners laughs a little bit at this, <Oh, I'm sure that would go over well, probably end up bonking each other over the head with the sticks.> He says as I wince at the idea. Oh yeah....though to be fair, that's often how humans play minigolf.
I stretch my wings out, <I think it's time to head home, only last thing I want to do is go check out the base across the bay, seen it so many times at a distance, wonder what it's really like.> I think to Shiners as I take to the air.
Shiners laughs, <It's an okay place, least by human standards, nothing too cool, other than those massive fish that are there every so often.>
I give Shiners a hard stare as he catches up to me, and I frown at him, giant fish, wait, were those rumours of secret nuclear subs real? Come on, even at the time I knew they were just made-up stories...or were they? I look back one last time at the camp below, maybe for the last time. By the time I'm human again, I may be too old to go.
